Soul of Silver
by superguideguy
Summary: Evan was just a college freshman with big ambitions, but when an event at MIT causes Pokémon to exist in the real world, he'll soon find himself in a position many would only dream of: he's a chosen one, and he's needed to save the world. However, nothing is always as it seems, and the same is true for this young man. Just what secret is he hiding? T for language, contains OC.
1. Chapter 1: The Calm Before The Storm

**Copyright Disclaimer:**

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 **©/® 2002 – c. 2016 (e.g., present) Pokémon, ©/® 1995 – c. 2016 (e.g., present) Nintendo / Creatures Inc. / GAME FREAK inc.; with consideration given to articles found within the public domain; as well as to original content, whose rights are withheld by the content creator.**

 **No copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**

"Normal/Aura Speech, _Emphasis_ "

" _Po_ _kémon Speech,_ Emphasis"

'Thoughts'

' _Telepathy'_

Chapter 1: The Calm Before The Storm

* * *

"I'm not usually superstitious, but considering _why_ we are heading to MIT, I consider it a bad sign."

Evan and Ben were both college freshman at Columbia University, Ben for Applied Mathematics, Evan for reasons Ben didn't quite understand. All Ben got out of Evan regarding the subject was, "MIT might be the best school for my two preferred majors, Computer Science and Computer Engineering, but you're my friend dammit, and there's still graduate school."

Evan just gave his best friend Ben his patented "which-one-of-us-should-be-trusted" look, because Ben was never one to trust when it came to matters such as superstition. As their fields were (somewhat) relevant, Columbia was relatively close to MIT, and because Evan had pulled some strings, the two of them had left earlier that morning to go to the first public test of MIT's Small Hadron Collider, as powerful as CERN's LHC, but only a fourth the size. Because of it's huge power but small size, if something went wrong...

"Just because the song 'Get Out Alive' was playing when we turned the radio on," Evan stated matter-of-factly, "Does not mean the SHC is going to explode."

"Then switch the station," Ben said.

"Fine, you superstitious wimp," Evan said, exasperated. Upon doing so, he immediately wished he had switched the station up instead of down.

"It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the-" the radio played, before Evan shut it off. The two freshman looked at each other.

"Well," they said in unison, one sarcastically, one literally. "We're doomed."

* * *

The two of them had gotten a hotel room for the night. However, while Evan was trying to sleep, Ben was...

"Ben! I like playing Pokémon as much as you do, but please, I'm trying to go to sleep! Could you at least plug in some headphones?" Evan half-shouted.

"Fine, I'm just too awake to sleep."

Evan muttered something about how light and sound affect sleep.

Ben, however, didn't notice. "I mean, I get lots of cool ideas at night," then he gasped. "I just thought of a good fan fiction idea! What if our world merged with the Pokémon world because lots of energy was in a compact space and a malfunction in a trivial piece of machinery caused a reality barrier to disintegrate and..."

At this point, Evan tuned Ben out. His best friend could be... "imaginative" at times. Usually, he would dismiss this tangent as Ben being Ben, but with the conversation that had occurred in the car, and the fact that the SHC was an intricate machine that handled a lot of energy...

'No,' Evan thought, 'Punching through reality barriers would take more than that, and that's if they even exist. Everyone knows they're fictional.'

'Right?'

* * *

The next day, the two of them had breakfast at the hotel, then went to the lab. They arrived much earlier than they needed to, but this was so they could get "good seats".

"You know," Evan said, "It's kind of weird that they would open it up to journalists."

"It's weirder how you got us in, considering it _is_ for journalists," Ben looked in askance at Evan.

"Remember my accomplishments?" Evan asked. Ben shook his head to signify that no, he didn't remember. Evan just sighed. "Let's just say to skip a very long monologue, I am very skilled in academics," An inhale, an exhale. "Regardless I was able to get us spots, myself some of the computer code that runs the show, and both of us some scholarship money just by pledging that I'll come to MIT for graduate school."

Ben sighed. "Whatever. Why do _I_ have to be here?"

"Excuse me, are you two Evan and Ben?" asked a girl wearing glasses and a lab coat.

"Yes, we are, and you are...?" Evan asked for both of the freshman.

"Cecelia," she said, simply.

Evan cursed something under his breath. "Even if it's not you, I can't help but think that it's been a damn long five years..." Fortunately, no one noticed. If they had, he would have a lot of explaining to do.

"What do you need us for?" Ben asked.

"Well, I was to give you the code for the 'light show', the hardware specs, and," Cecelia started, "I was also instructed to give you a private tour."

Evan looked confused. "It appears I pulled more strings than I intended. Oh well, we have nothing better to do. Come on Ben, let's go."

* * *

The tour was slightly dull, but educational. They got to see not only the SHC, but some of the other labs in the building. Ben admitted that it was interesting, but still wondered why he had to come.

"You haven't told him yet?" Cecelia asked Evan.

Evan chuckled hesitantly. "I wanted to say 'Surprise!'"

Ben looked confused. "Surprise? Define 'Surprise'."

"Surprise! You get to be the one to push the button! It's even big and red. You're lucky, I only get the power lever..." Evan looked genuinely disappointed.

Ben was flabbergasted. Once he could make interpretable speech again, he thought long and hard about what he wanted to say. "So... I get to push the button that actually launches the particles?"

Evan smiled. "Yep!"

Ben decided that fainting was the option with the best outcome.

Cecelia giggled and sighed. "Oh dear..."

* * *

Once Evan and Cecelia got Ben to be significantly less unconscious, the three of them went down to the control room, and began to converse as they waited for the time to showcase the SHC to come.

"You can't be who I think you are, can you?" Evan asked in an aside to Cecelia.

Cecelia giggled. "The problem is, I am. Hello again, 'I'll Plead Out Because It's The Right Thing To Do'."

Evan sighed. "Of course you would say that. How is your sister?"

Cecelia grinned. "She's fine. She's well on her way to becoming – oh, well, you know. How are yours?"

"Yes, I do know. They're doing fine. They took a gap year to reunite with our parents," Evan grinned. "I bet the cousins are fine, but how are the twins, Ruby and Sapphire?"

Cecelia frowned. "Haven't heard from them in a while. I'll go call them," she then got up and left.

Ben nudged Evan. "Where's she going?"

Evan responded the only way he knew how. "The airplane wing is tilting."

Ben was confused, then shrugged it off. 'She must remind him of someone,' Ben thought, 'Someone from five years ago, I suppose. He never did tell me much, other than his supposed-to-be-dead sisters were alive and kicking,' then he noticed something. "Evan, should the machine be doing that?"

Evan looked up. The press hadn't arrived yet, so he had to distract himself instead of doing an interview to pass the time. "No..." he eventually said. "No, it really shouldn't."

The SHC had decided that now would be the perfect time to crash and burn. The screen that output the readings had a blue screen, a telltale sign that the computer had hit a very, very bad error. In addition, the machine was emitting an ever higher pitch and volume whirring sound.

Cecelia walked in just at that moment. "Evan, we got a problem!" she shouted.

"We noticed!" Ben said in response.

"No! Well, yes, but – Evan, they're gone!"

Evan turned around. "What?!" he shouted. Then he whirred his head back around. He knew the machine was about to go critical, and saw a button labeled "Emergency Discharge". He ran over, lifted the molly guard, and pushed the big red button.

Nothing happened. Evan pushed it again. When nothing continued to happen, Evan pushed it a third time. He then noticed the wires connecting the button to the machine were exposed and frayed. They even looked chewed through. 'Damn weasels...' The warning klaxons and sirens began to go off. Evan frowned. 'Wait, what was Ben going on about again last night?' Evan thought. 'Oh yeah! Lots of energy in a compact space plus trivial pieces of machinery failing equals...'

At that point, the sirens and klaxons stopped. This may have been due to the fact that everything had exploded.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Soul of Silver! The next chapter will introduce more of the main characters, and actually have Pokémon in it. As for where the story is going, I have a general idea of where I want to take the story, but I am open to suggestions in PMs or reviews. And to answer any questions regarding any of the characters I mentioned in the aside – as well as the apparent trial, know that it will be explained eventually, but not in this story, and the story won't be written for a while.**

 **Hope to see you next chapter!**

 **Edit: I forgot to mention, but please review or PM if you find any errors. I know I will get ideas and type up specific parts of chapters weeks or even months before they will be released, so inconsistency is bound to occur. I will usually edit the errors when I post the next chapter. As for this chapter, from thinking to writing to typing to schoolwork, it took about eight months to complete this chapter, so there are inconsistencies.**

 **If I get informed of an "error" but do not edit it, then likely one of four things has occured:**

1\. I typed the sentence the way I wanted it to be typed, and don't believe it was an error. (If you don't like Oxford commas, then that's your problem.)

2\. The error is too broad or too specific. If I can't spot or understand the "error", then unfortunately I won't be able to fix it.

3\. The turnaround would be longer than a week. If I see the error, but can't think of a good way to fix it (such as an entire section being difficult to understand), then I may not fix it when I upload the next chapter. I will most likely acknowledge if this is the case, however.

4\. It's not an error at all. If a superfluous description is the "error" (such as "...switched the station up instead of down" in the sixth paragraph), then it most likely falls into this category. Instead, it may be a Chekhov's gun or a red herring. It may be referenced later in the story, six sequels from now, or never.

 **I'm also sorry if I sound blunt or upset when respondiong to PMs or reviews. I appreciate the constructive criticism, it's just that in the past said constructive criticism wasn't so constructive... but hopefully I can get past that with your help!**

 **As I said earlier, I hope to see you for future chapters!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Other Side

**©/® 2002 – c. 2016 (e.g., present) Pokémon, ©/® 1995 – c. 2016 (e.g., present) Nintendo / Creatures Inc. / GAME FREAK inc.; with consideration given to articles found within the public domain; as well as to original content, whose rights are withheld by the content creator.**

 **No copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**

"Normal/Aura Speech, _Emphasis_ "

" _Pokémon Speech,_ Emphasis"

'Thoughts'

' _Telepathy'_

Chapter 2: The Other Side

* * *

"Sir, the conversion process for XD003 is complete."

The leader of Team Cipher grinned. It had taken years to rebuild the team after Greevil had disbanded it, but he had done it. Once he had reformed the team, it only took a few months to find the same Lugia they had turned into a Shadow Pokémon during their second crusade through Orre. Unfortunately, her son, Silver, had escaped to his father in the Orange Archipelago. So the Legendary Pokémon knew what he was doing. But so far, it had been an advantage. They had also caught the Legendary Beasts, then a Latios, then his sister a few days later.

"This finally opens a chamber for XD004, considering that XD001 and XD005 are resisting more than anticipated. We have already taken the liberty of putting XD004 in the chamber. Thankfully, XD001 appears to be breaking."

All in all, this was to be expected. XD001, having been through the process before, would be able to resist longer. For XD005, well, Latios were very protective of their mates and sisters. As such, XD005 would do whatever it would take to prevent XD006's conversion.

Still, he was surprised XD002 and XD003 hadn't taken longer. They were the same Raikou and Entei they had turned into Shadow Pokémon during the first crusade, so he had expected some resistance. At least it meant XD004's conversion would be equally short.

Suddenly, what felt like an earthquake occurred. It only went on for a few seconds, and in the end, most of the damage was superficial, but it still scared the hell out of both grunt and admin.

"Damage report!" the leader immediately shouted.

* * *

Suicune was crying.

She had seen her brothers, who had been through this once before with her, once again fall under that darkness. Except this time, they were reportedly "unpurifyable". They apparently had made sure what allowed Lugia to be purified last time wouldn't work this time. Now that Entei was gone...

She sighed. _"I'll be with you two soon enough,"_ she said. She had made up her mind. She would go quickly, knowing that without her brothers, she had no will to live.

She then looked at the only one left, Latias. _"I'm sorry,"_ Suicune started, but then choked up.

Latias smiled sadly. _"I understand, Suicune. Seeing him go through that..."_ after that, both of them completely broke down. There was no attempting to hide it.

"Well, it looks like this will go down even faster than expected. Come on XD004, it's time for your 'coronation'."

Suicune didn't even have the will to growl at the nicknames. She wished Azelf was here to give her the willpower to fight back, but if Azelf or either of her sisters became Shadow Pokémon, it was pretty much bye bye world.

Suicune didn't even notice she was in the chamber until she felt the pain. It was the most painful feeling imaginable, yet ten times worse. She couldn't even scream.

The pain simply stopped. She opened her eyes, and looked around. The place had minor damage, but it honestly shouldn't have stopped the process. She didn't even notice anything wrong with herself until she looked behind her.

" _My tails! Why are my tails purple?!"_ Suicune cried, scared out of her mind. She then remembered how Lugia had looked, and how her brothers _now_ looked, and decided that she was lucky her personality appeared intact, and it was only her tails that looked corrupted.

That was when she started paying attention to the ongoing conversation.

"We don't know what happened, sir. As you can see, chamber 2 is broken, and by XD004's reaction, it isn't to blame. Luckily, the chamber appears to be structurally intact."

"And chambers 1 and 3?"

"Both are working, but at reduced efficiency. Chamber 1 holding XD001 is at 85% efficiency, while chamber 3 holding XD005 is only at 65% efficiency."

"It would be more time-efficient to keep them in there instead of starting over having fixed the chambers. Take XD004 back to the holding cell until repairs are finished. Otherwise, carry on."

Suicune sighed. Latias would be happy to see her, and hear that there was more time to rescue her brother, but she didn't know how she would react to her tails.

'I swear,' Suicune thought, 'The life of a Legendary is like a soap opera sometimes.'

* * *

Evan was having a very bad day. He would later proclaim that it was the worst day of his life. Even if the Starly he saw proved that Pokémon were real and out in the open.

Evan already knew Pokémon were real. After all, Ruby and Sapphire were the human names Latios and Latias used, respectively. However, that had been a special case. A case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Evan knew other universes existed. He had known for five years. He also knew that there were more... permeable spots, where one could accidentally cross over with enough power. With the right knowledge, one could even communicate with people in the other universe on a regular basis.

However, there was a difference between using a nail-puller to take something apart...

And using a sledgehammer.

The SHC had somehow torn a hole in the barrier between the space-times large enough to encompass the entire planet – at the very least. It appeared that the confluence of power was specifically targeted at the Pokémon universe, but that didn't mean there couldn't be other breaches.

Of course, none of that mattered in the moment. A building had pretty much collapsed on him and his friends, so all that was going through his mind was PAIN. Specifically a pain that was right behind his shoulder blades, as if someone had torn through the skin and muscle on his back – all the way to his spinal cord.

He felt as if he could scream and shout until his lungs and vocal cords gave out, but he kept fading in and out of consciousness.

The last thing he remembered before blacking out for the last time was that the Starly had led paramedics to his location. 'Good Starly...' He thought, deliriously.

* * *

A lone man sitting on a secluded bench in Central Park blinked once, twice, and then thrice before deciding what he was seeing was truly there.

"Where am I..." he muttered instinctively.

 _'Oh, I think a more appropriate question is 'When am I?', 'Azzy'.'_ he heard a psychic voice say to him. Suddenly, Celebi appeared in front of him.

He mentally cursed himself. He did something that should have ended his existence a la Nathan Stark from Eureka, but there was a more precious matter at stake.

"My name is Azorious," 'Azzy' growled. Such matter was his ego, of course. "Azorious Blake. 'Azzy' is a nickname Mesprit uses for Azelf. Also, what have I said about telepathy? I can understand Pokémon speech, you know. Writing italics on paper takes time; that's why the author of this fan fiction only italicizes telepathy during his first draft in the composition book, not Pokémon speech. More effort on the author's part means less content for the readers."

Celebi was confused. _"Author? Fan fiction? Readers?"_

Azorious looked shifty. "Blame Palkia and Arceus."

Celebi just gave up. _"Regardless, you were too early."_

"Define 'too early'."

" _When I send you back – to the future, might I add – it'll be a few milliseconds after I took you here. Everything will be fine; I'll take care of it."_

"If you say so... but why am I here and now?"

" _You forgot to do something,"_ Azorious started to ask a question, but Celebi stopped him. _"This isn't the time – ha ha, time – to ask questions, Agent Epsilon."_

"That's an alias and you know it!"

" _Azorious Blake is an alias,"_ Celebi quipped. _"I mean, if you'd prefer, I could call you by your formal title, S–"_

That was when Celebi, as well as Azorious' eyes, glowed blue, causing Celebi to stop talking. Once he decided she had no intent to continue down that dangerous, he stopped, letting her continue.

" _Let's get on with it then, shall we?"_ Celebi said, and Azorious nodded. "Remember the Shadow Pokémon incident? Specifically the third one?"

"Damn, I forgot I was involved in that. Or, is it will be involved? Or is it both, since I was/will be involved twice? I don't even know."

" _While that is the most critical in terms of magnitude, there's an event that precedes that which is even more critical in terms of timeframe."_

"Yes yes, I know. The reality barrier collapsing and the two worlds merging together."

" _I was actually referring to something else. But you're right, I took us to right before that happened. Do you remember what was different about the history of the Pokémon world than what the games said? Specifically about the Swords of Justice?"_

"Keldeo was the son of Cobalion and Virizion, with Terrakion being Virizion's younger brother. Oh, and the fire of... Oh dear..."

" _Who do you_ think _was the hero on the news, considering the Swords of Justice were 'trapped'?"_

He never would get a chance to respond. At that point, reality distorted; it was like a small earthquake.

Immediately, Celebi disappeared. Azorious looked around, made sure there were no humans, and assumed his true form, a Latios.

'Why do I always have to be the hero...'

* * *

Keldeo was having a bad day.

He, his mother, his father, and his uncle had been training, as usual. Keldeo was trying to learn Sacred Sword, as usual. He kept failing at it, as usual. What was unusual, however, was that a fire had broken out, and they went to try to put it out. But then...

"Where am I?!" he shouted, looking at the wall that was situated halfway between himself and where his family was _supposed_ to be. That wasn't even mentioning the annoying beep-beep-beep that was extremely loud for some reason.

On the other side of the soundproofed-for-a-very-good-reason wall, similar opinions were being, well, opined.

"We're trapped!" Virizion stated for everyone.

"I can break through it!" Terrakion said, charging Sacred Sword.

"Don't!" Cobalion yelled, stopping Terrakion in his tracks. "It doesn't appear to be a cage, so let's think first."

"Can I at least smash the annoying buzzer?" Terrakion inquired, indicating the fire alarm.

Before Cobalion could say no, Virizion said, "Please do so."

Cobalion only sighed as it rained red and clear plastic shrapnel, courtesy of Terrakion.

"At least _someone_ appears to be doing our job," Virizion said, looking out the window to see a Latios using Psychic to drop water onto the flames.

"Latios was kidnapped, wasn't he?" Cobalion asked, receiving two shrugs. Considering they were quadrupedal, this act was quite impressive.

"I don't pay attention to that stuff," Terrakion admitted.

"Of course you don't..." Virizion muttered, sighed, and otherwise verbally displayed her annoyance. "Ho-Oh is guarding Latias' eggs. I highly doubt that they so much as hatched, and there's no way a Latios could be full grown in a week. It's either a rogue member of the species, or Celebi's involved.

The three of them agreed, and then noticed that no snarky comment had been brought by Keldeo.

"Keldeo? Where are you?!" Virizion shouted in worry of her only child.

Terrakion, surprisingly, was the voice of reason. "I think he's behind that wall. Besides, he might still be a colt, but he can take care of himself."

Cobalion agreed. "He'll be fine."

The three then waited in silence.

* * *

 **A/N: First of all, I would like to thank everyone for reading, reviewing, favoriting, or fololowing this story. I won't mention names, but I'd especially like to thank those who PM'd with suggestions. I've made a few error corrections to the first chapter, but the only major change was the author's note. I hope to see you next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3: They Call Him Operator

**©/® 2002 – c. 2016 (e.g., present) Pokémon, ©/® 1995 – c. 2016 (e.g., present) Nintendo / Creatures Inc. / GAME FREAK inc.; with consideration given to articles found within the public domain; as well as to original content, whose rights are withheld by the content creator.**

 **No copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**

* * *

"Normal/Aura Speech, _Emphasis_ "

" _Pokémon Speech,_ Emphasis"

'Thoughts'

' _Telepathy'_

Chapter 3: They Call Him Operator

* * *

"So how are they?"

Some doctors were discussing how the three people that had been rescued from the collapsed laboratory had somehow managed to avoid death.

"One – his name was Ben, I think he said – managed to get out almost perfectly fine. A couple bruises, cuts, and scrapes, as well as a concussion, but that was it."

"It's the other two we're worried about. The girl has woken up, but she's delirious and isn't cooperating. The boy is something else, however."

"His medical record alone is confusing. He was very sickly at birth; the first week of his life was spent in a Level IV NICU, and he had multiple upper respiratory infections until he was about 2 years old. He eventually went on to have a mostly normal life until he was 14. Maybe a couple extra or unusual infections here or there, but nothing too bad."

"However, _something_ happened at the end of his eighth grade year and we're not sure what. Before then, while he had more than your fare share of illnesses, he never had an injury to his name. But all of a sudden, he's in for physical therapy, psychological therapy, and regular X-Rays and blood tests."

"The worst part? The records are censored. We don't know what body part required the physical therapy or why, the cause of the psychological therapy is unknown, and all X-Rays taken above the pelvis are simply nonexistent."

"All we have are basic checkup results, X-Rays form below the waist, blood test results, psychological diagnoses, and results from a single angiogram. And _every_ single result is anomalous. Every last one."

"Let's start with the checkups and blood tests. Remember how sickly he was before? He hasn't gotten a single infection or disease since the 'incident'. His blood pressure has been consistently high, especially his diastolic blood pressure. His heart and respiratory rates are also elevated. His blood temperatures also read one to two degrees above where they should, and yet no one apparently cares about this."

"His blood tests show elevated red and white blood cell counts, decreased platelets, and elevated calcium in his plasma. What X-Rays we do have unveil something of an oxymoron: he has elevated calcium but significantly lower bone density than anyone should, at least in his legs."

"What I'm hearing is that he has hypervolemia and a calcium absorption problem, both of which doctors are refusing to diagnose."

"That makes sense. Hypervolemia is known to increase blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate. More blood could lead to issues with thermoregulation. Even if he's getting enough calcium, his body might be refusing to use it. Could the angiogram corroborate this?"

"It does. And if I'm reading these results right, at the time he would have had to have... at least 7.6 liters."

"7.6 liters?! An adult is supposed to have 5! And he was 14 when it was taken!"

"We can worry about it later. When he wakes up, what psychological problems can we expect to have to deal with?"

"He's been diagnosed with various forms of depression and anxiety, but the other disorders are the most troubling. PTSD, hallucinations, something called depersonalization and derealization disorder; the good news is that he's never needed medication. That, and his last scheduled therapy session was one and a half years ago. The last one he ever went to was ten months ago, for one last relapse of PTSD."

"So not a problem. I'm confused about the calcium issue though? Didn't we X-Ray him and find no breaks?"

"And neither the calcium absorption problem nor the hypervolemia explains the elevated red and white blood cell counts, nor do they explain the decreased the platelets. I want full body X-Rays, an angiogram, and a rush on a blood test. Also get me our lawyer. I want to see what actions we can take to get access to his other records."

* * *

Evan looked out at the night sky, marveling at the stars. Their gold and silver lights reminded him of better times, more peaceful times. Before everything changed. Before _he_ changed.

The problem was he couldn't remember. He couldn't remember why he changed, or what he was changed into.

He started to panic. He could remember that Ruby and Sapphire were a Latios and a Latias respectively, so that was a start. He could remember that there had been a group of twelve of them. He was the only one of two in the group that was "normal" in the beginning, and by the end they all had secrets that if revealed to the world could get them killed. He knew that he had met his sisters in that group. But for the life of him he couldn't remember any of the secrets other than Ruby's and Sapphire's. He also couldn't remember much about the last day of school either. Maybe it had something to do with a trial?

"It's because you don't want to remember."

Evan spun around, and saw...

...himself.

"I'm actually your subconsciousness, and right now you are in a coma."

Evan examined his so-called subconscious carefully before responding. He certainly sounded like himself, and looked like himself, but there were key differences. Evan wasn't very emotional, but he was surprisingly sympathetic and empathetic, so he could tell that something was off. The man standing before him had weathered great pain and suffering. He tried to hide it, but Evan could see it. The way he stood bent forward slightly, with his speech and breath possessing a worn-out quality. The way his hands were positioned; one was ready to pull the trigger and the other ready to pull a sword. But it were his eyes that scared Evan the most.

Evan's eyes had always been slightly unusual; the irises being two-tone, with blue on the outside and brown on the inside. Evan also had an old scar slightly above and to the outside of his left eye from when he was three; a sign of pride and defiance against that accursed coffee table. He would have giggled were it not for the being in front of him. The sclera of his eyes were bloodshot, the blue of the irises were dull, and the brown had turned a steely gray. The scratch which was barely more than a dip in the skin on Evan was a long jagged laceration. But his pupils were the true revealer of all this man had been through. It is said that eyes are the windows to the soul, and if that statement was to be believed, then Evan certainly knew that this soul had not just been tortured, but that some of that torture had been performed by himself. And the reason he tortured himself... Evan could see that if the man hadn't tortured himself, the entire world would have.

"What have you been through?" Evan eventually responded.

"It's very difficult to explain," his subconsciousness stated. "And I'm afraid I don't have much time. The doctors are trying to pull you out of this coma and I don't plan on keeping you here much longer."

"Then what's the point of me being here?"

"The point is this: I will hide some of your memories until you rescue your friends." he paused, but continued before Evan could open his mouth. "And before you ask 'Why?', it's because you look at me and see a broken man. But I am you, or at least you with all your memories. And if I am broken, can you imagine what would happen if I gave you your memories back now?"

All Evan could do was mutely nod his head. He could imagine, and it wouldn't be pretty.

"I may decide to remind you of some memories earlier, but you need to rescue Ruby and Sapphire before I return them all."

"Okay... but could you be less blunt and let me ask questions?"

"I'm afraid there's no time for that. We can talk later. But for right now, you need to promise me one thing."

Evan's eyes and voice were filled with determination. "What? What do I need to promise you?"

His subconsciousness looked him in the eye. "You need to promise me – and yourself – that the twelve of you will get back together once you rescue Ruby and Sapphire."

"That's not a promise that you need to tell me to take." Evan smirked.

His subconsciousness merely smiled. "The medicine will take only a few more minutes to work its course, so enjoy the night sky while you can," he then vanished into thin air.

Evan decided that it was a good idea. After all, it _was_ a beautiful night, even if it was only in his mind.

* * *

His subconsciousness merely sighed. "I thought if I took the painful memories away, he'd be his old timid self. And while that would mean it would take coaxing to get him to rescue Ruby and Sapphire, he'd at least have a few days of innocence. But even now, he's innocent in a special way. Hell, he was innocent in a special way even after he had plead guilty. In the end I don't think it would matter if he was timid or not. If life's taught him one thing, it's that even the angels among us have a concept of righteous indignation."

"Let's just say there's a reason he's undefeated."

Now it was Evan's subconscious that had the opportunity to spin around. Instantly he summoned a sword of azure, gold, and silver light. However, he let it dissipate once he recognized the intruder.

"What the hell?! Do you have any idea what you could've done?! How are you here anyway, you're supposed to be in another universe!"

"I don't have to answer your questions."

"Then why are you here?!"

"You need to stop shouting. I'm just here to remind you of one thing."

"Well? Don't keep me in suspense."

"Evan's what you would call an operator."

"An operator? What do you mean by that?" Evan's subconscious asked.

"He leads people where they need to go. He connects people who have never met."

"So he's like a phone operator, so what?"

"He's good at people skills. He needs friends for this mission. But even though you told him to get the twelve of us back together, you've always tried to keep him friendless." Evan's friend stated.

"Ever heard of the phrase 'A chain is only as strong as its weakest link'?"

"I have, but I prefer the phrase 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has'."

* * *

"Are you saying we're too late?!"

"His body has already corrected everything. The calcium was readily absorbed into his bones; the most we could confirm is that the legs had the most issues. No breaks either. His blood pressure is now borderline low instead of borderline high, his respiratory rate dropped 40%, and his heart rate dropped 30% from his admission tests. The angiogram says he has between 4.6 and 4.8 liters; a little low, but the most that can do is make him a little pale."

"His red blood cell count is normal, as is his platelet count. His temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit , 37 degrees Celsius; whatever you want to call it, his temperature is normal. His white blood cell is still elevated, but we couldn't find any infections. It's almost as if his immune system is being proactive instead of reflexive. It's almost as if his body knows what happened to it and is modifying its functions accordingly."

"We actually found something on the X-Rays and angiogram, however. Remember those long deep gashes on his upper back, right behind the shoulder blades? The ones we had to cauterize in order to get them to stop bleeding? Three things: first, the X-Rays report that the spinal cord is slightly deformed there. Deformed in a way that couldn't have been caused by the collapse. Second, the angiogram reports normal blood flow in the area, as if the vessels had never been cauterized, much less in the past 12 hours. Third, there's barely any indication that the gashes even existed! All of his other scrapes, cuts, and bruises healed overnight!"

"So for all we know he could have had broken bones, but they could have already been healed?!"

"It's possible. And actually a fourth thing: the police found about three liters of blood where paramedics found John Doe; they called to make sure he was still alive. Three liters of blood is the difference between 7.6 and 4.6 liters."

"But didn't he lose another liter in the ambulance? And another half before we cauterized the back wounds? He would have had to either started at nine liters, or have already made another 1.5 in the past 12 hours!"

"...Okay, thanks. That was our lawyer. Apparently that kid is behind more protection than a presidential candidate. He has a criminal record, but it's expunged. The lawyer called in a favor, but it was only a single misdemeanor. His doctors said they knew about what the records would indicate, but the condition that caused all of the physiological symptoms also made the symptoms 'non-problematic'. They also said they were very depressed that the cause has apparently been removed. And just after that phone call ended, she received a call from a judge in New York who said that further investigation would result in a flurry of lawsuits from district attorneys, public defenders, schools, judges, police departments, heck fire departments and even a bar! He even knew we had that girl – Cecelia was her name – and said the same thing would happen if we started investigating her!"

"So now we have less useful information than we did before, and more of a headache. Wonderful."

* * *

In a cold, dark room, somewhere in Orre, two Legendaries are having a conversation.

 _'You can't! You can't give up now, Lauren! Not after all we've been through, and certainly not after the good luck we just got!'_ a Latios pleaded to the Lugia named Lauren.

 _'Are you hearing voices now, Ruby? I never said I was giving up! Are the voices getting to you?'_ Lugia informed the paranoid Eon Pokémon. _'I have a family too, you know! A mate and a son! I'm not giving up; the only way I'm leaving is hale or dead!'_

 _'Sorry, Lauren. I'm just worried that no one is coming to save us...'_

 _'Don't worry about it Ruby. I know Ho-Oh has told the other Legendaries what's happened; they'll save us.'_

 _'The problem is, I'm more worried that they'll be stuck in here like us.'_

Lauren just stared at Ruby.

 _'I know that silence,'_ Ruby intoned. _'Please don't tell me I'm right. Please tell me that an all-out attack will work, please!'_

Suddenly, Lauren smiled. A genuine smile, not one brought on by the corruption.

 _'What are you smiling about?'_

 _'I have found the one I have been looking for.'_

 _'You mean–'_

 _'Yes,'_ Lauren smirked. _'I have found my Chosen One. I have found my Soul of Silver,'_ She then frowned, pondering for a second. _'Hey, Ruby?'_

 _'Yeah, what is it? I'll talk about most anything to escape the pain–'_

 _'First, stop rambling. Second... Know anyone named Evan?'_

Ruby stared at Lauren, slack-jawed.

Lauren just smirked again.

* * *

24 hours prior...

In a cold, dark room, somewhere in Orre, two Legendaries are having a conversation.

" _Hey, Suicune?"_

" _Yeah, Sapphire?"_

" _I've accepted it as a fact, but_ why _do some Legendaries have names – like me – while others are just referred to by their species name – like you?"_

" _From what Ho-Oh told me, the original Legendaries – the ones created by Arceus – are referred to by the name of their species, while any other Legendaries have names. That being said, if the originals have been killed– Oh, oh, sorry Sapphire–"_

" _It's okay Suicune, Ruby and I have gotten over our parents' deaths. It was necessary to protect Alto Mare."_

" _I'm glad that you've recovered. Anyway, sometimes if there's only one member of a given Legendary species, they'll be referred to by their species name, even if they'ren't the originals."_

" _Well, that explains why the Swords of Justice called me Latias that one time I visited Unova,"_ Sapphire said, understanding. She then snickered. _"'they'ren't'? Really?"_

" _I happen to like using double contractions, thank you very much."_

" _You do? Well I think you 'shouldn't've'."_

" _Stop mocking me!"_

Sapphire broke down laughing. The guards in the room were also amused. Even if they were supposed to make sure that the Legendaries didn't escape, it was funny to see one Legendary flustered and another Legendary laughing about the matter.

Suicune noted this dutifully.

* * *

Keldeo sighed. _"I'm halfway to the point where I say 'Fuck this, I'm outta here'."_

" _Bad colt! Didn't your mother teach you not to curse?"_

Keldeo jumped back at the sight of a Latios, who was now in the room.

" _You're not Ruby, are you? You're a different Latios, right?"_

" _Correct, Keldeo. My name is Azorious. And before you ask, it's time travel. And no, I won't tell you your future."_

" _Aww..."_

" _Now none of that. I came here to do three things. First, remember that you need to aura speech in order for humans to understand you."_

" _Oh! I mean–"_ "Oh!"

" _Good. Second, the 'owner' of this room won't be back until tomorrow afternoon due to exceptional circumstances, so I'm here to provide you with water for the duration,"_ he then teleported a large bowl of water into the room.

There was someone shouting down the hall asking what had happened to the bowl that she was using.

"Okay. What's the third?"

Azorious rolled his eyes, and then used telekinesis to open the door to the bathroom, and then the door inside the bedroom.

Keldeo's relatives happened to be on the other side of that door.

" _That's the third,"_ Azorious said simply.

* * *

 **A/N: While I like longer chapters, school is starting next week, so I'm afraid I might have to miss some days. When I do update the story, the chapters might be smaller. In any case, I hope to see you next chapter.**


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